Colorado public broadcasters are among stations uniting for a live on-air fundraiser Thursday for victims of recent destructive wildfires in the state. Denver stations Rocky Mountain PBS, Colorado Public Television and KUVO-FM, along with KUNC-FM in Greeley and KRCC-FM in Westcliffe, will participate in the “Red Cross 2013 Colorado Wildfires Fundraiser” statewide broadcast, along with six commercial stations. Donations will support Red Cross efforts to assist residents affected by the recent Black Forest fire, and other wildfires that may occur this year. Red Cross volunteers will take calls from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time at Rocky Mountain PBS’s studios in Denver.

J.J. Yore, a veteran producer credited as a creator of the public radio show Marketplace, was one of three senior executives riffed June 17 from American Public Media, the Minnesota-based company that produces the series. Yore, who rose up through the production ranks to become v.p. and g.m. of the weeknightly business and economics show two years ago, will be succeeded by Deborah Clark, executive producer who steps up into the role of v.p. APM also eliminated positions of Mary Pat Ladner, v.p. of marketing, and Kathy Golbuff, v.p. of underwriting. An APM spokesperson described the restructuring as a move to eliminate layers of management and organize the company around an “Audiences First” strategy.

Nathan Shaw, the founding president of Development Exchange, Inc., and a public-radio fundraising pioneer, died May 29. He was 76.

Programs on public television received 13 creative arts honors and one broadcast statuette in Daytime Emmy Award ceremonies Friday and Sunday in Los Angeles.

Follow the conversation around the next generation of public media leaders with Current's Storify of the June 14 forum.

PBS President Paula Kerger today told pubTV execs that PBS NewsHour Weekend, a 30-minute broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays, will premiere Sept. 7 from WNET in New York City. Kerger called it “an exciting step forward for PBS NewsHour,” the longtime weekday public affairs show produced at WETA-TV in Arlington, Va. The New York Times first revealed PBS’s plans for the show in March, quoting unnamed public television employees. According to today’s release, Linda Winslow, NewsHour‘s executive producer since 2005, will oversee both programs. Marc Rosenwasser, former e.p. of Need to Know, WNET’s recently canceled Friday night newsmag, will serve as executive producer of the new weekend show.

The Ford Foundation has awarded Public Radio International a two-year, $500,000 grant to support Global Nation, a project that will cover social-justice issues affecting immigrants to the U.S. and their children. Launched last year, Global Nation uses partnerships with ethnic media, independent producers and local public radio stations to find social-justice stories affecting immigrants. The resulting stories air on PRI’s The World. The initiative was initially supported by the Rita Allen Foundation. Using the Ford support, PRI will expand the initiative’s reach with enterprise reporting and an online community of people and civic organizations concerned about immigration issues. The network plans to develop more than 180 digital and broadcast stories over the next two years.

Executives from MacNeil/Lehrer Productions have asked PBS officials for “emergency $1 million infusions so they could pay the NewsHour bills” four times in recent months, according to the New York Times. The newspaper quotes unnamed “public television employees” as saying that the PBS NewsHour received at least $3 million, which went toward a $7 million deficit on the program’s $28 million budget this year. The story also noted that the nightly news program was criticized in a confidential May 2012 report commissioned by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a major supporter of the program, which concluded that the show needed to “modernize news gathering production.”

WBGO-FM in Newark, N.J., announced Wednesday that station President Cephas Bowles will take a leave of absence for health reasons. In the interim, Amy Niles, the station’s c.o.o., will serve as acting president. “My doctor has placed me on medical disability leave as I work to correct an escalating health issue,” Bowles said in a press release. “During this period, I will offer my support and cooperation to the Board, Amy and the station as needed. I am grateful for your thoughts and I look forward to returning to work as quickly as possible.” Niles has led WBGO’s development, membership, marketing, programming and underwriting departments.

A group of young public media professionals who began meeting informally last year to network and share ideas has moved to step up its profile.

Upcoming leadership changes in public media will be the focus of Friday’s Public Media Futures Forum in Washington, D.C., the latest in an ongoing series of conversations with luminaries in the field.

Lynne Rosen, 46, and John Littig, 48, a couple who co-hosted a self-help radio show on New York’s WBAI, were found dead June 3 in an apparent double suicide. A spokesperson for the New York Police Department confirmed that both had left suicide notes.